Starbounders Read online

  Ryic looked at her curiously. So did Zachary.

  “Armstrongs?” Zachary repeated.

  “Nickname for friction boots,” she said. “Named after that dude who first walked on the moon. Or at least the one everyone thinks did.”

  The girl had a blond pixie cut with dyed streaks of blue, three piercings in her left ear, and one in her right. She wore black knit stockings beneath a pair of jean shorts, Converse high-tops, and a shirt with holes in it that had either gotten that way from years of wear or, more likely, had been bought with them.

  Zachary stared at her a little bit longer than he intended to. He caught glimpses of the oversized rings on her fingers and the flower doodled on her forearm in glittery magenta.

  “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” she said. “If your mental photo needs a tag, I’m Kaylee.”

  “I’m Zachary. This is Ryic.”

  Kaylee didn’t give much more than a shrug back in response.

  Zachary slipped his foot into one of the friction boots, and as soon as his heel and toe were in place, the boot tightened around his ankle on its own. It was a snug fit, less comfortable than the warp glove. The only sensation he could compare it to was the time that a boa constrictor wrapped itself around his arm at a friend’s birthday party.

  Soon all the Lightwings were gathering in a semicircle around Loren and Monica, chattering excitedly.

  “All right, let’s start with you, you, you, and you,” Loren said.

  Realizing that the final you was directed at him, Zachary was hit with a surge of adrenaline. Since the day his parents had told him about Indigo 8, Zachary had been waiting for this moment. A chance to prove himself. And he wanted to experience zero gravity. Jacob had said there was nothing like the sensation of being weightless. Now Zachary would finally get to feel it for himself.

  Lightwings who hadn’t been chosen for the first round groaned, disappointed.

  “Monica, why don’t you take it from here,” Loren said.

  “Sure thing.” Monica turned to Zachary, Kaylee, and the other two trainees chosen. “You’ll all be competing against each other on the zero-gravity obstacle course. The object is to pass through the numbered rings in order. Today’s race is noncontact, which means no hitting, pushing, or springboarding. If you unintentionally collide, just keep going. At the sound of the siren, begin.”

  Zachary sized up his competition: besides Kaylee there was Chuck, the red-haired kid with the sunburn from his SQ, and an eager brunette whose bunkmates had called her Cee Cee. Loren reopened the glass divide and led them into the Qube. Immediately, Zachary felt lighter. It reminded him of the sensation he got taking off his heavy school backpack after a long walk home. Zachary’s arms, so used to hanging by his side, were drifting up on their own. The stickiness on the bottom of his friction boots was the only thing that kept him from lifting off.

  The four Starbounders-in-training all lined up on an elevated portion of the floor, waiting for the siren to—

  Beeeep!

  Zachary bent his knees, twisted his boots, and jumped. Just like that, he was airborne. He felt like he was floating in a swimming pool, except there was no water. Chuck, a little weightier than the rest, had a more forceful takeoff, catapulting himself to a quick lead. But speed wasn’t the only factor in zero-gravity acrobatics; accuracy was equally important. The red-haired boy went soaring past the first ring, clipping one of the platforms and entering a freefall upward. Chuck didn’t stop until his body slammed into the glass ceiling ten stories up, like a bug hitting the windshield of an oncoming car.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Zachary saw all the Lightwings watching from the other side of the glass flinch in unison.

  Zachary was the first to successfully complete ring one, vaulting himself like an arrow straight through the center. His eyes scanned the Qube for ring two and saw that it was back toward the bottom. Kaylee might not have been as fast, but she was obviously clever. She’d thought a move ahead. Instead of flying directly through ring one, she grabbed on to it and swung herself around so she was already heading down to the next. By the time Zachary spotted the second ring and readjusted course, Kaylee was already halfway there.

  Zachary pushed off the upside-down staircase, launching himself in the opposite direction as he tried to catch up to Kaylee. Just then, Cee Cee flailed helplessly right into his path, flapping her arms like a wounded bird, getting absolutely nowhere.

  “Watch out!” Zachary called.

  Moments before making impact with her, Zachary barrel-rolled out of the way, his foot narrowly missing the top of her head as he continued downward. Kaylee glanced back over her shoulder as she passed through ring two.

  “Go back to the monkey bars on the playground,” she taunted Zachary. “This is where the big kids play.”

  He smiled, swinging himself through ring two and across the Qube again. As he and Kaylee soared toward ring three, Zachary glanced back through the translucent wall into the hallway where all of the other trainees were watching. Although he couldn’t hear them through the soundproof glass, it appeared that the Lightwing boys and Lightwing girls were cheering on their respective bunkmates. Zachary didn’t want to disappoint.

  “How ’bout we make this interesting?” Zachary asked, closing the gap. “Loser does the winner’s laundry for a week.”

  “Just so you know, I like my socks folded, not balled,” Kaylee replied.

  They passed through the third ring at the same time, their chests practically touching as they came out the other side.

  The fourth, and final, ring was extra challenging. Unlike the first three, which remained stationary, this one moved in space unpredictably and also contracted and expanded at random intervals. Zachary realized it and knew he would have to time his entrance perfectly.

  “Give up already,” Kaylee called.

  “The fumes from all that hair dye must be making you delusional,” Zachary said. “I got this.”

  The two jockeyed for position down the homestretch, leaping from platform to platform. Zachary waited for the ring to contract before he gave himself one final push-off, knowing that by the time he reached it, the circle would have opened once more. As the ring expanded, Zachary soared toward his target. Kaylee was right there beside him.

  Zachary’s fingers crossed through the ring first, but Kaylee exited the other side less than a second before he did.

  “Wow,” Loren said. “A photo finish.”

  “Yeah, but Kaylee’s the clear winner,” Monica added.

  Zachary and Kaylee floated down to the ground.

  “Just for the record, my hand crossed that ring first,” Zachary said.

  “Well, too bad I beat you out the other side,” Kaylee replied with a satisfied grin. “And the object is to get through the rings first.”

  “Oh, did you consult the international zero-gravity-obstacle-course rules committee?” Zachary asked.

  “I did,” she replied. “They said I won and you lost.”

  “I wasn’t even close,” Chuck said, joining them.

  They were heading for the glass doors back into the hallway when Cee Cee called out from above.

  “Would somebody get me down from here?” She was now upside down in midair, hanging like a piñata with no string. “I’m stuck!”

  “Hang tight,” Loren said. “I’m coming to get you.”

  Zachary watched as Loren sprang up from the platform, soaring three stories into the air. He grabbed Cee Cee by the hand, but before he was able to assist her with her descent, they both began to fall. They tumbled through the air so fast it was impossible for anyone to react. Zachary suddenly felt about a hundred pounds heavier. Gravity had unexpectedly returned to the Qube.

  Just as quickly, the gravity glitch ended, and he felt weightless again, but it was too late. Loren and Cee Cee had already slammed into the ground. From behind the glass wall, Zachary could see that some of the other Lightwings quickly turned away, while others watched in horror
.

  Monica ran over to a speaker panel in the wall.

  “We need EMA in the Qube. There’s been a Cerebella malfunction.”

  “Medics are on their way,” a voice called back.

  Loren was gritting his teeth and holding his shoulder. Cee Cee was unconscious but breathing.

  If that glitch had happened a minute sooner, Zachary would have been lying on the ground, too. Injured or worse. He knew how hazardous being a Starbounder could be, but he never imagined he would be dodging his first brush with death before dinner.

  «THREE»

  * * *

  LIGHTWING BOYS:

  Week Two Schedule Changes

  Monday:

  Due to an inclement-weather forecast for the afternoon, the Chameleon game has been moved to 5:00 p.m. Please attend regular training classes after lunch.

  Bonfire at the lake will follow the game.

  Tuesday:

  The itinerary for the upcoming galactic safari has been confirmed. For more information on the terra orbs and geomagnetic storms that will be visited, check your primer here.

  * * *

  Zachary had already read over the itinerary so many times he knew it by heart. So rather than torment himself with anticipation, he returned to the tactical flight manual he had been studying on his Indigo 8–issued tablet—which had been preloaded with course curricula and was updated daily with scheduling announcements. He was about to scroll through pitchfork flight patterns when Ryic hurried over, nearly out of breath.

  “Zachary, I am deeply troubled. I witnessed an older female trainee administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a male trainee, and yet no one around them seemed to be calling for medical assistance.”

  Zachary followed Ryic’s worried gaze across the Skyterium to the pair in question. He couldn’t see their faces because they were lip-locked, but he knew they were Darkspeeders—the oldest group of trainees—by the emblem of a flying motorcycle on the shoulders of their shirts.

  “Ryic, that’s called kissing.”

  “Will he be okay?” Ryic asked with genuine concern.

  “Yeah, I think he’s going to live—”

  “The dwarf planet Pluto is now coming into focus,” Cerebella’s voice interrupted them.

  Even though the hour before lights-out was meant for socializing, Indigo 8 didn’t miss a teaching moment. The Skyterium was like a planetarium without seats, but instead of a projector displaying images of the universe on the ceiling, the entire roof of the building acted as a telescopic lens, bringing the stars and sky practically within reach. There was a snack bar on one side, and beanbag chairs scattered about. Cerebella’s voice continued as Zachary glanced up to see the distant celestial object.

  “Slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon, this dwarf planet has an atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. Its severely cold temperatures reach two hundred thirty-three degrees below zero Celsius.”

  She had more to say, but Zachary turned his attention back to Ryic.

  “Want to get a fruit punch?” Zachary asked.

  “I still don’t understand why you call this beverage fruit punch,” Ryic said. “Is it made by pounding one’s fists into various fruits?”

  The two headed for the snack counter. Just as they arrived at the back of the line, they heard a raised voice from nearby.

  “Well, I don’t think you belong at Indigo 8. Not with what the Clipsians have been doing in the outerverse. Your people just ravaged the Tranquil Galaxies. How are we supposed to trust you when your kind doesn’t respect IDPL law?”

  Zachary turned to see that the voice belonged to Instructor Avendale, who taught his warp-glove-wielding class. She had a shock of white hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail and she never wore makeup. Her words were directed at Professor Excelsius Olari. Although Olari was roughly human in shape—torso, two arms, two legs—like all Clipsians, he had only one eye and a slit for a mouth, but no nose or ears. His skin resembled warm charcoal: an ashy black on the outside, with red embers glowing beneath. He oversaw Zachary’s morphology course, where trainees learned about all the various alien life-forms that existed beyond Earth. Whenever Professor Olari got excited by what he was talking about, heat would radiate from his body, making his fingertips and forehead redden the same way burning charcoal did. That was why people like Instructor Avendale and Apollo called his kind charcs.

  “I would have expected more from you, Lydia,” Professor Olari said.

  “I don’t care if others won’t say it out loud.” Instructor Avendale ran a hand through her white hair, putting a single stray strand back in place. “How do I know we won’t be next?”

  “I deplore what Nibiru and his armada did to the Tranquil Galaxies. They are rogues,” the Clipsian professor said. “I can assure you that the majority of our species is as peaceful as any other in the IPDL.”

  Zachary could see orange embers starting to glow brighter through the cracks of Professor Olari’s skin.

  “I’ll be keeping an eye on you this year, Excelsius. Be warned.”

  Instructor Avendale walked away, leaving Professor Olari seething and red in the face.

  Kaylee walked up behind Zachary and Ryic.

  “Of all the vile creatures in the universe, how did the worst end up at Indigo 8?” she asked.

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t judge Professor Olari so quickly,” Ryic said.

  “I was talking about Instructor Avendale. She’s the dangerous one.” Kaylee turned to Zachary. “I’m surprised to see you here. Don’t you have some laundry you should be doing?”

  “Come on, I’ve already done three loads for you. You’re just torturing me now.”

  “The deal was you had to do my laundry for a week. And by my estimation there’s still sixteen hours left, so you’ve got time for at least one more. My bag’s right over there.”

  Zachary sighed and shook his head.

  “Right now?”

  “My favorite running shorts are in there, and we’ve got our first Chameleon game tomorrow,” Kaylee said. “Chop-chop.”

  “Remind me never to make a bet with you again,” Zachary said, heading for the laundry bag.

  “Try not to accidentally mix the colors in with the whites this time,” Kaylee called out.

  “That wasn’t an accident,” Zachary shot back at her.

  The laundry room was on the second basement level of the Ulam. It was rarely crowded, and Zachary figured it would be empty now, seeing as how everyone was still upstairs in the Skyterium. He lugged Kaylee’s bag inside and was startled to find someone standing over the sink. It was Loren, the trainer from the Qube. His arm was still in a sling from the accident. He looked surprised to see Zachary, too.

  “Hey, shouldn’t you be upstairs with everyone else?” Loren asked.

  “I’m still paying off that bet I lost to Kaylee,” Zachary said.

  Loren smiled.

  “There’s an empty machine by me,” he said.

  Zachary walked over and started loading Kaylee’s laundry into the washer. He saw that Loren was scrubbing a knit green shirt with one hand.

  “Chameleon jerseys,” Loren said. “For tomorrow’s game. It’s like capture the flag meets laser tag.”

  “Yeah, my brother used to talk about it all the time.” Then Zachary asked, “Can I help you there?”

  “Nah, I’m getting pretty good at doing stuff one-handed,” Loren said. “I was really impressed by your performance in the Qube last week. You’re a natural.”

  “It kind of comes with the last name.”

  “I know how that is.” Loren shut off the sink and put the jerseys in the dryer. “My father was an IPDL commander. Highly decorated, too.”

  “What for?” Zachary said.

  “Dying with valor. His ship went down during a rescue mission. It wasn’t even the crash that killed him, though. He sent out a distress call, but by the time the IPDL showed up, it was too late. His body couldn’t adjust to the micr
oorganisms in the planet’s atmosphere. Total organ failure.”

  Zachary averted his eyes, not sure how to respond.

  “I was only five when it happened. I didn’t really know him. My mom always told me I could be angry about it and carry around a grudge my whole life, or I could honor my dad and carry out his legacy as a Starbounder. So here I am.”

  Zachary could certainly relate to carrying on a family legacy. His eyes returned to Kaylee’s laundry bag.

  “Is this a white or a color?” He held up a beige shirt.

  “It’s safer to go color,” Loren said.

  Zachary shoveled a sloppy cupful of detergent into the machine.

  “So, any advice before tomorrow’s game?” he asked.

  “There’s a reason they call it Chameleon. The best way not to get hit is not to be seen.”

  The following afternoon, Zachary’s purple jersey flapped in the wind as he raced through the woods on the outskirts of Indigo 8. A fellow Chameleon teammate ran at his side, puffing so hard it seemed as if he would faint at any moment.

  The rules of the game were simple enough. All of the Starbounders-in-training were separated into four different teams. The first to collect a baton from each of the opposing teams and return all three to their base would win. To neutralize their opponents, every player wore a computer-controlled belt armed with five stun balls, which remained charged until they were plucked off and thrown. If a ball made contact with an opposing player, it emitted a shock that stunned him or her into temporary paralysis. The trainers claimed it was just a sting, but Zachary didn’t want to find out if that was true.

  He could hear a screech of static as one of the metallic stun balls sailed past his ear, barely missing his shoulder. He glanced back and could see that three trainees in yellow jerseys were gaining on him. One of them was an outerverse exchange whose primitive wings didn’t allow full flight but made jumping over obstacles effortless. Zachary had taken Loren’s advice to heart, but some of the older trainees had sniffed out his hiding spot on the warp-glove training course faster than he expected. Now he and his teammate were sprinting for the edge of the purple team’s safety zone.